National Republican., 1887-02-07
\ Lot h T 0 D,
House, One Price Only.
912 D ST .

They are the parasites of the church, not the
church itself. Her mission Is to cover the
earth with supernatural gladness, to open
all the prison doors, to balsam all the wounds,
TO moss all the graves, to burn up the night in
the fireplace OF a great morning, to change
iron handouts into diamonded wristlets, to
turn the whole race around, and whereas 1t
faced death, commanding. II. Fright about
face for heavenp' According to the number
Of the spires of the churches in all our cities,
towns. and neighborhoods, are the good homes,
the worldly properties, and the pure morals
Meet me al any depot the world over, and
with my eyes closed take me by the hand and
lead me so that my feet will not stumble, and
without my once looking down, or looking on
the level, take me to some high roof or tower
and let me see the tons of the churches, and
l will tell You the proportion Of suicides, OF
arsons, of murders, OF theits, According as
the churches are numerous are the crimes few.
According as the churches are few the crimes
are numerous. The most beautiful Organiza-
ton the world ever saw or ever will see Is the
muoh-maligned church, the friend of all good,
the foe Of al ey "iair as the the moon % and clear
iul In her mission. the heroine of the cen.
turtles, the bride Of Christ, the queen OF the na-
iions. There are hundreds, Of kindly instltu-
tions, some caring for inebriates. some for the
| crippled, some for the imbecile, some for thu
misled, some for the blind, but the church
Is the mother Of all these kindly institutions.
There are asylums-American or English or
| Scotch or Irish or French or German or Italian,
but the church spreads her mantle over all
these, and will yet spread 1t over all nations.
full, her prayers are beautiful, her convocations
| are beautiful, her work is beautiful.
All kings and warriors, will yet bow
be shattered against her doorstep. all nations
will yet follow her leading. How amiable
are thy ,tabernacles! How sacred thy
So s1M spscef f0sous 81 sspyy ihy SO ausS ssa
and rolling on and rolling up We cry out in
regard 70 her: Who is she that cometh ont
Men may desecrate II, as did Cromwell when
he stabbed his cavalry horses in st. Paul's
Cathedral; or break of the image of Christ, as
did the iconoclasts in Yorkmnster; or hurl
! Gibbon; or plot its overthrow, as do some in
every community whose pride, and hate and
debaalcheIy , are reproved by the, Ten Com
| on the Mount which 1t breathe0. But it will
| stand as long as the earth stands, the same
unique, and wonder working, and beatidc,
T. Small wits tax their brain to say things
that will put her, at disadvantage, but
many Of them will send for It's condo
lence when dying and their children Will
| parental curse has been removed. Through
her gates will march all the influences OF good
that shall ever reach our world. Take her
membership as a mass. not speaking OF the
acknowledged exceptions, they are the noblest
grandest. kindest, best men aud women of the
eges. But for them the earth would long ago
have been burned-out volcano. They have
| been the salt that has kept the human race
from putrefaetion insufierable either to human
or angelic Olfactories. You lying and hypo-
the church of Christ an institution which, far
from being what 1t ought to be and
never pretending to be perfect, is 500 times
better than any other institu tion that the
world ever saw or ever dreamed OF. The
highest honor l ever had, and the highest
honor shall ever receive, and the highest
honor ever want Is TO have my name on her
| Al her slcraments believed. In her service
let me die. From her do,rs let NE be buried
church of God Thou home Of the righteous
Thou harbor from tempest Thou refuge for
the weary Thou light house of many nations !
| Thou type of heaven / could kiss thy very
dust with ecsacy of affection
"For her my tears shall full,
For her my prayers ascend:
To her my tolls and cares be given
TIL tolls aud cares shall end"
"Perlnmed smoke" says Solomon. In the
| words following my text. Not llSo tho tunes
| coughed up from the throat OF a steam pipe, or
| poisoned with the gases of chemical factories,
| or floating in black wrath from the conAagra.
| tion of homesteads or sulphurOus from blazing
| batteries, but sweet ms II burning grove Of
| cinnamon or jungle of sAssIiras, or the odOrs
| OF temple censer. "NhO Is this that cometh
out OF the wilderness, like pillars of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense~
| Hear II, men and women everywhere, that
| the advance of the genuine church of Christ
| means peace for all nations.
Victor Hugo, in his book entitled "Ninety-
| three" says: "Hothing Calmer than smoke
but nothing more startling. There are peace.
| ful smokes and there are evil ones The
| thickness aud color of line of smoke make
| the whole difference between war and peace,
between fraternity and hatred, The whole
happiness of man or his complete misery Is
sometimes expressed in this thin vapOr which
the wind scatieTs at WILL" The great French
man was right, but go further and say that
as the kingdom of God advances like pillars
OF smoke, the black volumes belching from
batteries of war and pouring out from port
holes OF ships will vanish from the sky,